Looking For Friendship? Try a Billbergia nutans H.Wendl. ex Regel

                                                                                             Photo By MarashGirl©2022                                  

                                    Above see photo of Marash Girl's very own Friendship Plant!   

            (The Friendship Plant is better known by  scientists as Billbergia nutans H.Wendl. ex Regel) 

Pennies For The Parking Meters!

Remember when parking meters gave you 15 . . . sometimes 30 minutes for one pennie?  Those were the days, right?  Well, on one of those days,  Ann-Louise and Marash Girl were walking along a well traveled road . . . a road with lots of cars parked at parking meters soon to run out of time  . . . when who should the girls spy approaching the first of the cars parked at one of those parking meters?  Can you guess? 

Time's up!  

The answer? A meter maid with a pad of parking tickets in her left hand and a pen in her right hand. 

Marash Girl and Ann-Louise reached into their purses and grabbed as many pennies as they could find, and in an attempt to outrun the meter maid, popped a couple of pennies into every parking meter that was out of time . . . Their good deed for the day . . . or the week!

N.B. Luckily, the meter maid chose to ignore the girls' act of largesse.  Guess she figured it was less work for her!

"Yardsaling" With Archie!

Years ago, Marash Girl had never attended a yard sale. Learning of this, her friend Archie offered to introduce Marash Girl to the world of "yard saling" . . . and what a world that was! Never had Marash Girl seen such treasures -- antique teapots, silverware, hardcover books signed by the author/s, brass candlesticks, pewter candlesticks, brand new candles, costume jewelry, and on and on and on . . . a world of treasures, treasures for a pittance . . . a world of which Marash Girl had been completely unaware. Thank you, Archie, for those fun-filled spring, summer and fall seasons of yardsaling . . . seasons that continue to this day . . . or rather continued until COVID reared its ugly head and stopped the fun of yardsaling . . . But as Grandpa Peter would comment, were he still with us, "COVID, too, shall pass!" Allow Marash Girl to add, "And may it pass soon!"

Remembering Armand Andreassian

Wednesday, May 3, 2017 Concert at the Armenian Cultural Foundation In May of 2017, Marash Girl attended (first row seats!) a concert featuring New England Conservatory students -- Canadian/Armenian Eva Aronian, violinist, and American/French Pierre-Nicolas Colombo, pianist. Hosted by The Andreassian Music Fund and the Canadian Women's Club (Canadian Consulate), the musicians, New England Conservatory students, (Violinist Eva Aronian, Pianist Pierre-Nicolas Colombo) played pieces by Maurice Ravel, Johannes Brahms, Fritz Kreisler to name a few. A cocktail reception preceded the concert which was followed by (the concert, not the cocktails) a social hour that included desserts and coffee. An enjoyable Sunday afternoon! And particularly enjoyable for Marash Girl, as the concert was held at the Armenian Cultural Foundation in Arlington, Mass., a foundation established to preserve the collection of her dear, long ago friend, Vahan Topalian.

Above photo by MarashGirl©2017 Above: Armand Andreassian introduces the event at the Armenian Cultural Center, 2017. May the Lord welcome Armand into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Marash Girl's Old Friend, Architect Rostom Voskanian, Gains Fame On The Avenue!

A street in Tehran has been named after well-known Iranian-Armenian architect (and Marash Girl's long ago friend), rahmetli olsun Rostom Voskanian. The avenue adjacent to the H.M. ‘Ararat’ organization in Tehran, formerly Aftab, was renamed in honor of architect, sculptor, painter Rostom Voskanian, ParsToday reports.

According to the website, the authorities of the capital city and the representatives of the political council, made the decision on the renaming, when last year they visited ‘Ararat’ sports ground and got acquainted with the historical building of the chapel Holy Cross, the architect for which was Voskanian. Rostom Voskanian was born in 1932 in Iran and passed away in 2013 in the United States of America. He received his degree from the Department of Architecture of the Faculty of Fine Arts of Tehran University in Iran. He is an honorary doctor of Yerevan State University of Engineering and Construction. There are many buildings in Iran designed by Rostom Voskanian -- public buildings and apartment buildings, including the Ararat Sports Complex, the Armenian Club, the Armenian Kindergarten in Tabriz, the construction of the Central Park of the Tabriz Prelacy, and other structures. NOTE: Marash Girl thanks author Davit Muradyan for the above photo and article. . . And I'm sure rahmetli olsun Rostom Voskanian is thanking Davit, as well!

The Banks of the Charles . . . Where Old Friends Greet And New Friends Meet

Photo by MarashBoy©2021

Don't Hesitate To Call!!

It's amazing what our "sixth sense" can do for us. If you feel that you haven't been in touch with someone for awhile, and something tells you that you should call them, follow your "sixth sense"! It's there for a reason and has been there for eons!!! N.B. The quotation, "S/he who hesitates is lost. . ." is an adaptation from Joseph Addison's play Cato written in 1712.

Sage Advice from Ben Lifson

While attending Graduate School at Yale University, Marash Girl was fortunate to have known Benjamin (Ben) Lifson, a graduate student at Yale as well . . . and self-appointed philosopher of the day. The primary bit of advice that Marash Girl remembers Ben having shared with her (and they were good friends, no more than that) follows herewith: "Never go to bed angry with your partner; if you don't first defuse whatever the issue, you won't sleep well, and it certainly won't bode well for the relationship!" Good advice, wouldn't you say?

"You hug too hard!"

Advice from a pro . . . Years ago, when Grandpa Peter was still with us, Grandpa Peter would love to hug the women as he greeted them . . . no formal handshake for him! His friend, Jim, (name disguised to protect the innocent) would always comment: "I don't get it! How is it that the women don't mind your hugging them, but they pull away when I hug them?" "You hug too hard," replied Grandpa Peter, hiding a grin.

New Year's Eve Parties?

There was a time when Marash Girl and Marash Boy were invited to, perhaps, ten New Year's Eve parties every New Year's Eve . . . The parties were fun! But one year, Marash Girl and Marash Boy decided to have fun alone (together) . . . neglecting to notify (as it was a last minute decision) the many friends who had sent them invitations. And, as they used to say in the old days, "That was the end of that!" . . . Whoops . . . Marash Girl meant to say, "That was the end of the invitations . . ." . . . not to imply that that was the end of Marash Girl and Marash Boy deciding to have fun alone (together)!

Artists, Where Are You?

There was a time in Marash Girl's life when she knew not one person who was NOT an artist. Presently Marash Girl knows only one woman who is an artist and one man who is an artist. (Both are painters.) What's going on? Is it this writer? The times? Or the place? Or is Marash Girl's definition of "artist" too narrow?

BMB Loves BMB!!!!

Once her sister, brother, cousins and neighbors learned that Marash Girl had the same initials as the handsome young neighbor boy, (initials in title changed to protect the innocent), the chanting began! BMB loves BMB! BMB loves BMB! BMB loves BMB! BMB loves BMB! So the chant continued. "BMB loves BMB! BMB loves BMB! BMB loves BMB!" Unnerving to say the least, and a bit scary, as the chanters and the two BMB's were all still in elementary school!!! Yesterday, when Marash Girl looked for BMB on the internet, she learned he had passed away two years ago. May God rest Marash Girl's childhood friend's soul and welcome her friend, BMB. into God's Kingdom.

ON MAKING YORGANS FOR THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE (Do Not Read Until Wednesday, Dec. 9)

Blogpost for Dec. 9, 2020 There we were, Mummy, Great Aunty Mary (Grandma Yepros's sister -- Grandma Yepros was blind, so she couldn't help), and Marash Girl . . . sitting crosslegged on the sheet covering the oriental rug on the living room floor in Newtonville, pulling apart wool freshly washed after having been sheered from the sheep on the farm in Hopkinton . . . picking out of the wool any brambles that may have been caught in the wool . . . Spreading that wool evenly across the inside out dobrag (cloth bag soon to be the cover of the quilt), rolling the dobrag up (starting on the closed end) along an old but cleaned broom stick, and carefully unrolling the bag so that the wool was now spread out evenly inside, rather than on the outside of the cloth bag. Carefully tying knots of heavy string equidistantly across the quilt at twelve inch intervals, which hopefully would assure that the wool would stay in place once the quilt was in use, and finally, invisibly stitching the open end of the quilt closed, with a prayer for the good health of the couple who would be using that quilt throughout their marriage. Verchabes . . . we had successfully completed making the "yorgan" for Marash Girl's dear friend Gail and the love of her life, Ron, who were soon to be married!!! What sweet memories . . . But as Grandpa Peter would have commented, were he reading this blogpost today, "Those days are gone . . . forever!" Note: Happy Birthday to you, Gail!!!

A Toss In The Hay?

In discussing the political climate of the day, a long-time acquaintance of Marash Girl soundly approved the President's latest appointment to the United States Supreme Court. "Why should we help kids who have just had a night of it?" she asked . . . or as she put it, "Why support kids who have just had a toss in the hay??!!!!" And that from a woman who had tossed around "in the hay" plenty during her youth!

"NO LIFEGUARD ON DUTY . . . SAVE YOURSELF!!!"

So advised a sign prominently posted on a beautiful Cape Cod beach last summer! Could this sign have religious ramifications? Political ramifications as well? Photo Credit: Marash Girl

Thank you, Amin!

Thank you, Amin, for your friendship and for sharing your expertise in a time of need! As folks have said for centuries, "A friend in need is a friend, indeed!" N.B. This from the internet: a Roman poet named Quintus Ennius who lived in the Second Century B.C.E. wrote (when translated from Latin): “A sure friend is known in unsure times.”